At Piedmont Biofarm, we pride ourselves in the prolific nature of thesweet potatoes we grow. We grow no fewer than five varieties, eachexhibiting its own unique character, whether it be sweetness level,texture, or starch content. Sweet potatoes are one of my absolutefavorite items to work with. I recall being asked a while back what Iwould like to take with me to a desert island if I had to choose onevegetable, and without hesitation chose the sweet potato. It isversatile beyond belief, can make its way into most dishes withoutcausing too much controversy, and possesses myriad health benefitswhile maintaining a distinct earthbound sweetness. I always try to usethe whole potato, the skin tastes lovely and adds depth to the root inits mashed form. Here is a very simple recipe for sweet potatopancakes, born out of a desire to achieve something elevated while notrequiring any additional effort beyond assembling a few commonhousehold ingredients.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

NOTE: you could use flour instead of potato starch if it is easier toaccess, but my desire here is to eliminate the toughness of normalflour when it is overworked due to its gluten content. Either way isfine, and I encourage experimentation. Themerits of a gluten free product is that it is made available to morefolks and their respective dietary needs, which I really like.

Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake at 400 until the potato isjust becoming tender. If you cook it into pulp, this is ok, you aresimply missing out on the textural variedness that comes from aperfectly cooked sweet potato. When cooled, peel off the skin, reservingit, and roughly mash the potato with a fork, maintaining some of thelumps. These will caramelize in the pan and add a great deal to thefinished product. Beat the eggs, and add the starch and molasses toform a wet mix that you then add to the mashed potatoes. Bring everything together with a wooden spoon or a gloved hand, whichever youprefer.

Heat your pan of choice to medium, making sure to wait until it is hotto add fat. This ensures that the fat will not become gummy and burn.When the fat is evenly distributed in the pan, form your fritters andadd to the pan. The pancakes have much more sweet potato in them thanstarch, and will not bind as quickly as traditional pancakes. Thismeans you must cook them slowly so that the binding agents (egg andpotato starch) cook through while avoiding burning the exterior. Irecommend flipping them more often than traditional pancakes toachieve this. Once you feel you’ve cooked the pancake through (itshould be firm and easy to move around without warping and have a darkexterior) remove and serve with butter and jams of all sorts. As longas your fat hasn’t burned, if the pancake takes on a very dark colorit should not taste burned, the sugars in the potato and molassesalike lend themselves to this deep level of caramelization, and in myopinion taste wonderful in this state.

Storage Practice

At the farm, we store our sweet potatoes at around 55 degrees, which is not necessarily easy to achieve at home. During the colder months, you'll find that they store perfecting well at room temperature on your kitchen counter. As long as they don't get too moist, they should keep well for three to four months, though hopefully you'll move through them much quicker.